ANAHEIM – Just before the opening faceoff Thursday, the scoreboard at Honda Center flashed a message that the Ducks have 15 more to go.

After their performance over the 2 1/2 periods that followed, the argument could be made they have three more to go, too. The Ducks were too careless, too undisciplined and too slow, but then brilliantly awakened to force an unlikely overtime that, ultimately, only underscored their frustration.

They lost, 5-4, to Detroit, leaving them still 15 victories from their second Stanley Cup but, of more pressing concern, three losses from elimination.

Yeah, it's a long series, best-of-7, and we wouldn't bet against this one — now even at a game apiece — going all the way.

But that has no chance of happening unless the Ducks tighten up, and we mean tighten up early.

After starting this series very well, winning Game 1, 3-1, they didn't start anything well Thursday. The Ducks surrendered goals 48 seconds into the game, 64 seconds into the second period, 20 seconds into the third and 81 seconds into overtime.

The repeated false starts, unfortunately for the Ducks, proved to be their true undoing.

If this were professional tennis, we could say the Ducks failed to hold serve. But if this were professional tennis, the boredom of the games would be offset by the fact the average sports fan stopped watching years ago.

No, this is the NHL and these are the playoffs, and there it would be hard to produce more riveting drama than the Ducks did late.

Down 4-1 early in the third period, their general disposition was summed up by a flustered Teemu Selanne, who punched Detroit's Danny DeKeyser in the back of the head and then once more near the chops to pick up a roughing penalty.

For the record, Selanne is bound for the Hall of Fame, his jersey one day to decorate the rafters of this building.

DeKeyser, not even seven weeks ago, was playing for Western Michigan, which is a school in Kalamazoo, a serious town with a funny name.

At that point, it also appeared the Ducks were deader than the Lakers, and no team wants to have its status compared to the Lakers' health these days.

But then, as if someone pinched jumper cables on their toes, the Ducks jolted to life, goals by Ryan Getzlaf, Kyle Palmieri and Bobby Ryan making it 4-4 and necessitating an overtime that, only a short time earlier, would have seemed like a preposterous notion.

In the span of 10 joyously unnerving minutes, the Ducks erased a stretch of uneven and strangely uninspired hockey that extended for nearly 2 1/2 periods.

Their problems surfaced quickly as they fell behind in 48 seconds when Detroit's Justin Abdelkader scored. Wait a second, Abdelkader? Sounds like a gimmicky at-home workout device the promises a rock-hard stomach in only five minutes a day.

In this case, the Abdelkader had the Ducks cramping way too early and the Red Wings were off and flying. Damien Brunner scored for Detroit off some sloppy Ducks' play in their own end and, at 4:20 of the opening period, it was suddenly 2-0, Red Wings.

The early chaos had Bruce Boudreau immediately employing his one and only timeout. It's never a good sign when a coach is desperately attempting to halt a run by the opposition and there are still fans outside trying to park.

The good news for the Ducks is in the NHL playoffs home ice guarantees nothing more than the right to drive your own car to the game.

It's true that the Ducks lost the 2003 Stanley Cup finals to New Jersey in a series that featured seven victories by the home team. But also true is the fact the Kings won the Cup last season and never once entered a series with home-ice advantage.

"I think it's almost an advantage for the road team," Boudreau said in advance of Game 2. "They have no distractions. They go to the hotel. They get their rest. When you're at home, and I don't mean this in a negative way, you have distractions, positive distractions.

"You've got family. You've got obligations. 'I gotta pick up the kids from school. I gotta do this. I gotta do that. Oh, nuts, I'm supposed to get the groceries.' Ice home doesn't turn out to be the advantage you think it's going to be."

The Ducks now have to hope the words of their coach and the history of their league hold true. Games 3 and 4 of this series shift to Detroit's arena, which is named after Joe Louis and has been the site of some memorable knockouts.

The home team impressively came off the canvas Thursday only to go down again.

The Ducks' chances of survival will improve moving forward only if they figure out how to better answer the bell ... before the Red Wings figure out how to ring it yet again.

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